


Funny Business

by Kalandan



Series: Because We Can [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Hijinks & Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-12 22:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3358328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalandan/pseuds/Kalandan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being Marshall is not all its cracked up to be sometimes.  Trouble arises and Pentecost has to sort out who did it and asks our known trickster Tendo and Other Shatterdome staff to find the source. What happens when Mako gets involved?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jocelyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jocelyn/gifts).



Pentecost knew the rangers were behind this somehow.  Now it was a matter of figuring out which set, or sets of Rangers (never rule out teams working together) and then to get them to undo what they had done, and maybe ask how they had managed it in the first place.

 

Pentecost called the three senior staff that were on duty at the time of the incident into his office.  “Any idea who did this?” He started off with while he paced his office.  

 

“Unfortunately I can’t say who did it, but I can look into it right away, sir.” Deputy Marshall Colby stated, she was looking a little out of sorts. “I can assure you I don’t find this funny, sir” Pentecost stopped his pacing to turn his full attention to the other two standing at attention before him.

 

“Sir, I can’t tell you who did it. But I can tell you which of the Rangers it wasn’t. I know the whereabouts for both the Gages and Beckets at the time of the first, cough cough, uhh, sighting?” Tendo ended skeptically, unsure of how to name or time the “incident”.  Pentecost raised his eyebrow, and gave a very slight nod to Tendo to continue. “The Gages were in the Simulator all morning and the Beckets were in LOCCENT with myself and several other lab techs going over the Gipsy's refit data.” 

 

“Any ideas Doctor Gonzales?” The head of K-Science for Anchorage Shatterdome, looked slightly pale for his usual tan self.  Its as if his latin blood had just left him suddenly. Pentecost kept eye contact with him, which seemed to make him break out in a sweat.  Both Tendo Choi and Jayne Colby were looking over at him now too.  Jose Gonzales was shaking with the added pressure of his peers staring him down.  The Marshall wasn’t an exceptionally patient man, but he knew if he held this a little longer he would find one of his answers. 

 

“I didn’t help them!” Jose blurted out after another minute of intense staring.  

“Help who?” The Marshall prompted.

In the smallest and almost defeated sounded reply “Chrome Brutus’ Rangers, sir” as he continued to keep his gaze on the floor.  

 

“Alright, Thank you Doctor Gonzales.  Mr. Choi and Deputy Colby, you are both dismissed for now.  Please see that this… infestation is cleared away as soon as possible.” 

“Yes Sir!” They said in unison and left the Marshall's office.  

 

“Now Doctor, any idea who did help them? And for that point why you ‘know’ it was them?”

Jose, swallowing hard and continuing to avoid the Marshall's gaze, mumbled something..

“What was that? Speak up”

“They came looking for a couple of the junior lab techs several times, and I overheard them saying something about ‘how we going to get that many?’ and ‘this will be very memorable’. I didn’t think much of it at the time, because I just thought it was some kind of gag for the superbowl party they were planning. Apparently they were planning more than just one tailgate party.” 

 

“And do you have any idea who else might be involved in this incident?” Waving his hand for the scientist to continue his tale.

“No Sir, only those three techs and the two rangers, that I know of sir.”

 

Returning to his pacing, Pentecost mulled this new information over carefully. But how did they get so many? He wondered. “Send me the names of the techs involved and help LOCCENT and the Deputy clean up this mess. “Yes sir” and the man Ran from the Marshall’s office.  

Alone again in his office, he walked over to his desk and sat down at his computer to pull up the security feeds for the Jaeger bays, and of the four screens that popped up he enlarged one of the feeds to full screen.  He prompted the computer to zoom in and there could be seen at least two dozen cats lounging all over the staging above the Jaeger. They were on the walkways, several brave kitties were out on the Jaegers themselves, most of them stuck to the side platforms that appeared to have either tuna or some kind of cat food on them at this point. 

  
Half the staff was thrilled to have animals around, the other half were appalled at the mess they were causing. As he watched the feed several cats were seen walking on the staging the techs used to get access to remote points of the Jaegers. Then it dawned on him, the humor in the situation, and he cracked the slightest of smiles, to think they filled the cat walks with cats.    



	2. The Softer Side of Stacker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all of the "intruders" are gone from the Shatterdome when Mako comes home for Spring Break.  
> Stacker has to decide if it can stay or go, and Mako uses her 15 year old powers of persuasion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG this sillly little idea just ran away with me. and The end might be a bit rushed because I kinda wanted to be done before but the story wasn't complete. Stacker and Mako might be a bit out of character, my apologies. Hope you like, and please send some feed back, this is the first time I've written something inspired by a comment. Enjoy!

**(2018, April 21st)**

**Saturday 0001 hours**

“Merow”  Golden eyes were beaming and locked on Mako as she sat up and pulled her sheets up to her chin along with her knees.  Blinking repeatedly to clear the sleep from her eyes Mako realized she was staring back at a cat perched on the end of her bed.  

She leaned over to the switch and turned the light on.  Sure enough there was an orange and white cat with long white whiskers and yellow green eyes staring at her.  The short haired cat was twitching its tail back and forth, flicking the tip of its tail at the end of each cycle.  Mako relaxed from her state of panic.  This was not life threatening, it was simply a soft furry creature looking for attention, or something to eat? Maybe she should drop it off with K-Science, that is where most of the other cats that had been hanging around the dome went.  Mako thought it over, sure Sensei would probably want her to do that, but looking at this cat staring her down she didn’t want to pick it up and walk it down to the labs, not at this hour. It was a school night, Sensei would be upset with her if she was groggy in the morning because she was up half the night chasing a cat.

“Merooww, meow” Mako pulled from her thoughts again looked at the cat. Her muscles bid her to pat the space on the bed next to her as an inviting gesture.  “Here kitty,” She cooes at the creature.  The cat flicks its tail back and forth one more cycle before it lazily raises a paw and delicately stands up and walks languidly over towards Mako. But it stops short of the spot she had indicated.  Instead it stands there looking over the spot and waits.  Mako lays back down in her bed as sleep starts to take over again.  

As soon as Mako is fully relaxed in bed and about to fall asleep the cat walks across her to the opposite side of the bed and curls up next to her hand.  Idly she strokes the cat, its fur is soft and its warm, the cat purrs lightly in response.  Mako drifts off to sleep not too long after, hand still resting on the cat.

The next morning Mako wakes up, but the cat is no longer in the bed.  She is disappointed, she had hoped that it would stay.  Perhaps Sensei would let me keep it.  But no sense in thinking that now, it had moved on, probably to be picked up by someone else to be taken off Shatterdome property.  She frowned to herself to think it would be left somewhere without being cared for.

Mako got up and prepared for the day.  She was on spring break from school, and was looking forward to celebrating her birthday in two days time. When she entered the space she and Sensei shared she was surprised to see the cat sitting by the door to the bathroom. Mako was perplexed by how the cat had gotten into and out of her room without a sound and was now staring down the bathroom door like it held the answer to life.  The cat looked at her then continued to sway its tail back and forth on the ground.  

The door in question opened and Stacker stepped out, still in his casual morning attire, sweats long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of well worn house slippers.  Stacker looked at Mako and smiled, he was about to say something to his daughter when “Meroww. Meww” he stopped suddenly.

They both looked at the cat then.  Mako with a look of delight, Stacker a look of dismay followed by annoyance.  Before the cat could get away Mako ran over and swept the cat up in her arms.  

It looked befuddled and let it happen for only a moment before it began to squirm.  “Best to let it go Mako, who knows where its been.” Carefully lowering the protesting cat Mako released it before it could get more worked up.  It walked to the other side of Stacker, sat down staring up at the pair.  “I’ll make sure to take it down to the lab before I go to my office.” Mako’s face falls a little at this comment. Stacker looks at her quizzically, wondering what had upset her.  

“Maybe we can let it stay for a while, Sensei?”  She looked at him with all the pleading of a 15 year old that wants something.  She would not beg or outright say she ever wanted anything, but if the cat had come to her, she might be able to keep it for a time, and the small comforts it could bring.  Stacker pondered this while he looked from Mako to the Cat, which was looking over its shoulder at the pair.  What harm could it be to let it stay for now, it would probably get bored and move on to somewhere else soon enough.  Most of the cats that had shown up a month ago had left of their own accord.  However a significant number of them had to be chased or caught and taken to the nearby shelter.  

Stacker shrugged “Okay, for now. But if it causes any trouble, or the first scratch and its gone.”

Mako lit up at this. “Thank you Sensei!” She hugged him quickly then ran over to the kitchenette found a small bowl, filled it with some leftover meat from the previous nights meal.  She offered this small meal to the cat, who hadn’t moved from its spot near the bathroom door, swishing its tail.  The cat’s tail stopped and it sniffed the bowl as Mako crouched near it with hope.  It nibbled at the food.  Taking tiny bites and stepping away from the bowl and eating, then repeat.  

Mako being old enough to know how to take care of things left the cat to its own devices after it started eating.  Stacker and Mako went back to their normal routine, even if their morning yoga session was shortened.  Breakfast in quarters and then it was time for the Marshall to get to work.  He dressed and kissed Mako on the head before going to his office.

The next couple of hours flew by in its usual way, emails, reports, calls to the other Marshalls, or LOCCENTS, more emails, a trip down to the Jaeger bay, clear up a dispute in K-science, and back to the office to write up reports of the previous week.  

Stacker was sitting at his desk when he realized there was a small vibration at his feet, along with his toes feeling slightly warmer that usual.  He pushed back from his desk and looked under to see a pair of golden eyes looking back at him.  The cat had curled up next to him and was purring its happiness.  Stacker mulled this over for a moment, debated calling up Dr. Gonzales to have him come and pick it up, or dealing with it himself. Mako had seemed to happy to have the creature around, and he hated to take away anything that made her smile.  Stacker closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and think, it had been a long day.  

Meanwhile the cat had made the decision for him, when it got up and walked away.  Stacker looked up and noted it was gone, no where to be seen.  No longer an issue, he went back to his report before heading back to quarters and a peaceful night spent with Mako.

* * *

 

 

The next day over breakfast Mako asked  “Did you see Keiko at all yesterday?”

“Who is Keiko?”

“The golden eyed, orange and white cat that showed up yesterday. I figured if she comes around again I should call her something other than ‘cat’ or ‘neko’”

“hmm. It showed up at my office just for a short time. Was it here most of the day?”

“Not really, she seems to come and go as she pleases.  But she showed up again when I was getting ready for bed.”

Curious, the cat seems to have us figured out already. “Hmm.  Interesting, did you see her this morning?”

“No, but I figured she will show up again if she was hungry.  May I continue to feed her Sensei?”

“If we have anything to spare. I don’t want you going hungry because you wanted to feed a stray cat Mako. Is that underrstood?”

“Yes Sensei. Thank you”

 

* * *

 

 

The three fell into a loose schedule while Mako was there. Keiko would show up at Stackers office, and warm his feet while he was writing, she would spend the nights with Mako, and show up for a random meal now and then, as it suited her.  Mako was so happy to have her around Stacker couldn’t even imagine how he could have made Mako’s birthday any better.  They never did anything extravagant, but it was even better to share their private meal with the cat at their feet.  

Mako had to go back to school at the end of the week.  Stacker was loathe to see her go, he so enjoyed having her around.  It made the crazy life he lead worth it, if only to see her smile.  After Mako left Keiko no longer spent the nights in her room.  Stacker would see her sometimes when he got up for water in the middle of the night, sitting curled up on the kitchenette floor, or next to the table.  Once she was sleeping with her face down, as if she had collapsed and decided to stay where she fell.  

Stacker often saw her in his office, never made a fuss or disturbed him, but would sit at his feet under his desk and purr a little.  He grew so fond of this that he thought of picking up actual cat food to give her, or maybe leave a small blanket out for her to sleep on in the corner of the kitchenette.  In the end he was far more subtle, he bought cat treats and kept them in his desk drawer and would leave a few on the floor in front of Keiko before he would leave for the day. As a thank you for another good job.  

No one in the dome was ever aware of the Marshalls furry companion, besides Mako, because Keiko apparently deemed her worthy of showing up for. And that was alright by him, who was he to begrudge one cat living in the dome?

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little idea I had and wrote up as a small token of appreciation for Jocelyn. I hope you like.  
> This is set some time between 2019-2025, exact dates TBD.


End file.
